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Ruling May Jeopardize ‘Dolphin Safe’ Label

A ruling on Thursday by the World Trade Organization could imperil “dolphin safe” labeling on tuna in the United States.

Department of Commerce

Mexico had complained to the international arbiter that American labeling rules, which bestow dolphin-safe labels only on fishing fleets that do not use a netting method known as purse seining, discriminate against Mexican producers. (Purse seining involves setting up a wall of netting around fish and then “pursing” the bottom to capture them.)

The World Trade Organization ruled that the American rules do not discriminate against Mexican producers. Nonetheless, it said that the nation’s rules were more restrictive than they needed to be to protect dolphins and inform consumers.

The impact of the decision was being debated on Thursday as experts analyzed hundreds of pages of details. Andrea D. Mead, a spokeswoman for the United States trade representative’s office, which argued the case for the United States, said the agency was considering whether to appeal. She said that her office was “very concerned” by the finding.
Todd Tucker, research director with Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, said there was good reason to be worried. Appeals of W.T.O. rulings have a poor track record, he said, and the decision could mean that “the U.S. will have to water down dolphin-safe tuna labels or face trade sanctions.”

Mr. Tucker pointed out that in the 1990s, the United States completely banned tuna caught by methods considered dangerous to dolphins. When the W.T.O.’s predecessor organization ruled that this was an unfair trade practice, that policy was discontinued, leaving only the dolphin-safe label in its place.

Dolphins and tuna tend to swim together, particularly in the tropical Pacific waters off Mexico and Central America. In the 1950s, with the advent of strong nets fashioned with artificial materials and the introduction of hydraulic crane power, fishermen exploited this relationship to track the tuna, encircle them in massive nets and carry out large-scale captures. That led to the deaths of millions of dolphins.

Decades later, the United States demanded that American fleets take precautions to protect dolphins, a policy that was later adopted by some other countries including Ecuador. The number of dolphins being killed declined. Tuna that were captured with such methods won the American dolphin-safe label.

Mexico has fought the labeling, saying that its fishermen cannot afford to abandon the purse-seining method and that such labels prejudice customers against their tuna.

Ms. Mead of the United States trade representative’s office countered that producers of tuna products, whether foreign or domestic, “have the option of labeling tuna products that meet the standards of the U.S. provisions as dolphin safe.”

One standard is that the label “cannot be used if dolphins are purposefully chased and encircled in order to catch tuna,” she said. “This fishing method is harmful to dolphins.”

“We are carefully considering all of our options with respect to this finding, including an appeal,” she said of the World Trade Organization ruling.

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